Ban welcomes Indonesia’s ratification of treaty banning nuclear tests

6 December 2011  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed today’s ratification by Indonesia of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), and encouraged all States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify this instrument to advance its entry into force.

Indonesia is one of the so-called Annex 2 States, whose ratification is required for the treaty to enter into force. The States in that group that have yet to ratify are China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States.

“The Secretary-General encourages all States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the treaty and is counting upon the engaged leadership of the rMy message is clear: Do not wait for others to move first. Take the initiative. Lead. The time for waiting has passed.emaining eight States whose ratification is required for the treaty’s entry into force,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

Mr. Ban is the depositary of the treaty, which bans all nuclear explosions. As of today, 182 States have signed the CTBT. Once Indonesia deposits its instrument of ratification, the total number of ratifying States will stand at 156, including 36 Annex 2 States.

Tibor Tóth, head of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), congratulated Indonesia’s parliamentarians for bringing the treaty “a significant step closer” to becoming international law.

“By this historic decision, the gap keeping the treaty from entering into force has been narrowed down to eight countries.”

At a high-level meeting in New York in September, Mr. Ban had urged all remaining States to seize the moment and sign and ratify the CTBT, with the aim of bringing it into force by 2012.

“We know that a comprehensive ban on nuclear tests is an indispensable stepping stone to a nuclear-weapon-free world,” he told the Seventh Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT.

“My message is clear: Do not wait for others to move first. Take the initiative. Lead. The time for waiting has passed,” he stated. “We must make the most of existing – and potentially short-lived – opportunities.”